March 31, 2004xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com ffice ffice" /> > >

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11:42 P.M. - In the xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com ffice:smarttags" /> lace w:st="on"> laceName w:st="on">Frankfurt laceName> laceType w:st="on">Airport laceType> lace> > >

Hard to believe I’ve actually got my feet on German soil. The lace w:st="on"> laceName w:st="on">Frankfurt laceName> laceType w:st="on">Airport laceType> lace> looks like any other – pandemonium over luggage retrieval, crowds sweeping all around – you wouldn’t even guess you were outside the states if not for the fact that all the signs are in GERMAN and everyone is speaking GERMAN!!! I’m so excited . . . and I know I’m probably looking pretty ridiculous with this smile pasted all over my face! Daddy’s gone to look for a phone to call the rental car company. We’ve gotten our luggage; thank goodness the red bags are easy to spot! Customs was not difficult to pass through at all. A quick flash of the passports, and we were on our way. > >

4:20 P.M. – Driving through lace w:st="on">Germany lace> (searching for a campsite!) > >

The rental car agency saved us the trouble of finding them; they found us! The transit to our car’s pick-up location was carried out with practice ease by our rental agent. We were loaded, bags and all, onto the waiting shuttle right outside the airport. Everyone agreed if our waiting van were as spacious and well equipped as the shuttle, we wouldn’t have any worries! [We’d tried to find out before the trip the exact amount of interior space in the van, but without success. Guessing at how much luggage we would be able to bring was our last resort.]   > >

Our driver, the rental agent, explained to us (much to our relief) the rooftop carrier had already been installed, so we were saved that headache! When we pulled into the rental lot, I could see my dad visibly grimace and grit his teeth. I looked in the direction he was looking, and saw he had good reason to do so. The only van with a rooftop carrier in the lot looked disappointingly small. Five large bags and two backpacks hadn’t looked like much to sustain a family of six for eight months, but now it appeared we didn’t have much choice other than to dump some of our gear. The question was, what could we dump we didn’t desperately need? We pulled our bags out of the shuttle and opened the trunk of the rental to have a look. It was worse than we had anticipated. Less then two feet of space was available to stow our luggage. The sporty (but very slim) carrier on top didn’t look too promising, either. Calculating mentally, I decided the only way we would even begin to think of fitting all our stuff inside that car would be to remove one of the back seats. However, after raising the issue into consideration with the rental agent, the idea immediately greeted trouble. “We don’t have the room to store a seat . . . This lot is only temporary until a new facility can be built . . . I don’t believe you can leave parts of our rental cars behind . . . [etc., etc.]” he said. My dad went inside to settle the matter with his supervisor. In the end, we left the seat in the storage closet. My dad is very good at what he does (he’s a lawyer). > >

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March 30, 2004

4:36 P.M. – O’Hare Airport in xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comChicago, Illinois

We slept in until 9:00 since we had time to spare on our schedule. Breakfast was leftover pizza from the night before. Daddy spent the morning removing a virus infecting one of the laptops, while Jeff, Emily, Amanda, and I worked on our journals. We caught the 2:15 shuttle from the Sheraton directly to O’Hare. Our luggage was checked, x-rayed, and stowed on the plane without any problem. We ate a quick (late) lunch at the “Great American Bagel.”Our plane starts boarding at 6:50, so there’s time to kill between now and then. I’m watching CNN news at the terminal gate. It’s a little disturbing to see terrorism reports and updates in every other feature. You can’t hide in your closet for fear something terrible will happen, so, you might as well live life and take risks. If you think about the odds, driving down the highway poses far greater risk of death than being at a pizzeria when a suicide bomber strikes.

9:23 P.M. – On the plane to Frankfurt, Germany

Gosh, this plane is crowded – I mean, really crowded – there isn’t a seat to spare! Unfortunately, the plane is so full, there’s no room to change to a seat with working headphones. Mine seem to have some sort of malfunction; they were working fine before we took off, but once we got in the air, all I’m getting is static. Even though this flight is headed for Frankfurt, I really wasn’t prepared for the sudden immersion into the German language! The American Airlines flight crew broadcasts everything over the intercom first in German, then in English. Most of the people on board speak German as their first language. It’s a really weird feeling not being able to understand the language which is being spoken all around you. They’ve served us dinner, which like all airplane food is not worthy to be mentioned for anything but its awfulness!

March 29, 2004

Hello again, xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comSt. Louis, MO! The St. Louis Arch is right outside my window! I remember how much fun it was going up it in 2001. Looking through the train trestle at the churning muddy water of the river below is not a comforting picture. We should be arriving in Chicago around 2:30, someone behind me just said. Let me reiterate the last night for you.

Do not ever, ever decide to travel on Amtrak without bringing a jacket, warm blanket, and a large, comfy pillow. Otherwise, you will inevitably wind up spending the night with cramps in your neck, cramps in your back, etc. while simultaneously shivering under an air conditioning vent.

We made the “mistake” of appearing in the diner car again, this time for breakfast. After investing in the morning’s “three burnt pancakes for $$$” deal, the vote was unanimous to never again to eat food served aboard a train. On the brighter side, the view and the service made up for the bad taste.

11:42 A.M. – Lincoln, Illinois

The bright blue sky sprinkled with puffy clouds looks like anything but rain and snow, which was what I thought we would be getting into when we reached Chicago. Much better forecast! I only hope it will be this nice in Frankfurt!

1:45 P.M. – Joliet, Illinois

Almost there – 30 miles to Chicago, IL. Since we won’t be able to fit in the cab with all of our luggage (5 bags, 3 boxes), my dad, brother, and I will go ahead of the others to the hotel, taking the bags with us. We’ve reserved a room at a hotel off of priceline.com.

3:34 P.M. – Chicago, Illinois

We’ve just pulled into the station – I can see the Sears tower outside my window! Since we’ll be spending the day here, we might even get the chance to meet up with some friends. The Amtrak ride has been exciting, but I’m eager to get off the train and dig into some (good!) chow.

3:40 P.M.  – Chicago, Illinois

Change of plans. We’re at the Chicago Amtrak station (wow, this place is huge!), and we’ve just gotten our luggage. The bad news is we’ve discovered we left the name and address of our hotel reservation back in San Antonio. Can’t remember if it’s the Sheraton or the Hilton! Daddy made a few phone calls; confirmed it’s at the Sheraton. Good news: we won’t have to pay $80 for a cabbie to get us there; we’ll take the subway. $10 will transport the six of us to the O’Hare Airport, where we’ll catch the shuttle to our lodging.

5:40 P.M. – Chicago, Illinois

I know I had quite a few people offer to carry our bags for a chance to visit Europe – I should have taken them up on their offer! Five bags each weighing in excess of 50 lbs., three awkward 15 lb. boxes, and two backpacks which weigh between 25 and 30 lbs. are not easy burdens to tote around a city. Please keep in mind there are only six of us, two of which weigh less than the weight they are toting.

It would have been hard enough, had we been dragging these things across smooth, flat areas. Instead, we’re stuck bumping them across potholes in busy intersections, down multiple flights of stairs, up and down escalators, and into subway cars whose doors only remain open for eight scant seconds. I’m not really complaining, because my family likes challenges, even if they are exhausting! :-z

9:30 P.M. – Chicago, Illinois

Well, it’s great to snuggle up in a cozy bed after a long and exhausting day of traveling! The rooms are very nice, with lots of space. We had Chicago style deep dish pizza for dinner . . . mmmm . . . very tasty.

My siblings and I are under strict instructions not to remove anything from the suitcases without supervision. Back at O’Hare, we’d redistributed the articles from the cardboard boxes into the suitcases, and then weighed each of them to make sure they all passed under the airline regulations (70 lbs. each max). This made the luggage much easier to handle! We don’t want to unbalance them again, so we’re making very sure everything gets put back exactly where it came from!

8:34 P.M. 

We woke up at 5:00 A.M. this morning. No, let me rephrase: Jeffrey, Emily, Amanda, and Daddy woke up at 5:00 A.M.; Mama and I had stayed up all night repacking. This was a result of a discovery we made on the previous evening around 7:00: The suitcases could not be zipped shut, and there were still [many] more things we had to pack. Daddy said we would have to cut down on the clothes we were taking to 50% . . . four shirts, two pair of pants, one pair of tennis shoes, etc. And did anyone hear me say previously that this trip would be for seven months?? Instead of removing clothes from my bag (well, to be completely honest, I will admit I pitched the itchy polypropolene long underwear which even Daddy agreed shouldn’t go), I rolled and packed them like sardines. Well, they’ll be wrinkled when I unpack, but what clothes don’t get wrinkled when you pack them in a suitcase? I did manage to reduce the space by 50%. Ahhh, more room for shoes! Don’t tell my dad, but I’ve got four pairs of flip- flops, one pair of dress shoes, Tevas, and a pair of tennis shoes ( . . . not counting the ones I have on now) stowed away under my clothes. When we arrived at the train station at 6:10 this morning, no one was expecting trouble. By not paying attention to detail, we read over the fine print on our Amtrak tickets, “No luggage over 50 lbs.” And so of course when our bags were weighed, all three of the red ones weighed in at least 15 lbs. over the limit. Hmmm, now that I think about it, I’m probably the one at fault for that hang up! Anyway, my dad decided he would run back to the house to pick up an extra suitcase. Reaching in his pocket for his keys, he remembered he had locked them in the car for one of our friends to retrieve later. So much for that! We ended up mopping the spill over weight into cardboard boxes. I’d never spent more than three hours on a train, so 30 hours was a (big) jump. This was the first time anyone in our family had traveled Amtrak; we’d used subways and small local rail lines in our previous travels. Traveling Amtrak was much different from what I’d expected. We didn’t buy tickets for the sleeper cars, electing instead to pinch pennies and recline our seats in coach class. We basically had the car to ourselves during the first few hours of the morning. Gradually, as our train made more stops (and we picked up more people), the place began to smell with increasing distinctness like sweaty socks. I guess it’s something you have to get used to on long train trips! The time I didn’t spend catching up on my sleep from the night before I spent reading a book, Deception Point, by Dan Brown. It wasn’t all that exciting because it had the same overall plot as Brown’s previous two novels, Angels & Demons, and The DaVinci Code, but it was a good thriller all the same. The author has a tendency to kill his characters off with gruesome deaths, throw the plot into chaos, and give the story a fairy-tale ending before the reader knows what hit him. If he would only change his story up a bit between books! If you want to eat a decent meal aboard Amtrak, you’d better plan on packing your own. At dinner, I split the $12.50 chef’s special with my brother: beef tips with rice and vegetables – how could it go wrong?  Apparently, the chef’s special was doing exactly that: serve your customer a frozen hunk of stew meat with vegetables vaguely resembling Swanson’s from the freezer isle. Top it off with undercooked rice swimming in oil, and ummm, you’ve got dinner? My mom and dad were so pleased at the way my brother, sisters and I got along together at the table during dinner, they allowed us to split a dessert (this is a rare treat in our family). Luckily, my siblings have inherited my good sense of taste in sweets and unanimously agreed cheesecake as the final decision. When the waiter brought out three slices instead of one, we protested, because we had only ordered one. The waiter discreetly pointed to the mysterious stranger who had been chatting with my parents in the opposite booth.  “Saves me the calories,” the man said with a wink and a chuckle as he patted his (hefty) stomach, and signed the check. > >

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9:47 P.M. > >

Well, it’s getting late, and I’m probably annoying the other passengers with my light still on . . . well, if they had slept during the day like I did, it wouldn’t be bothering them right now, now would it ? I guess I’ll eventually have to oblige their silent complaints by turning it off. For now, I’ll be evil and read some more of my book. 

     Okay, okay, I know I’m not in Europe yet, but I thought you guys might like to know what’s been going on behind the scenes in the “planning stage.”

     On January 30^th, we went to the post office to submit five separate passport applications. I already have my passport with my own gruesome Kinko’s photo, but the rest of the family needed them. We managed to successfully befuddle the postmaster who had the – errm – delightful task of stapling five individual sets (birth certificates, social security identifications, passport photos, passport applications, checks, etc.) in their required places. The passports should arrive in three to six weeks. Don’t quote me on that one.

     Still working on planning the circuitous route we will be taking through Europe. We'll be renting houses in several different central locations, then taking day trips from these 'hubs.' We will also be leasing a van – though we won’t have for the entire time; it’s a six (?) month lease for a seven (?) month trip. If you want a copy of our ‘schedule,’ you can email me: aol.com">goldmeg89@aol.com.